And it was like a light bulb had been switched on,
and I'd be halfway through a plate of food and it would just be like a little voice would go off and say,
oh, we're done now.
And it was life-changing.
It was astonishing.
Welcome to LSE IQ, the podcast where we are social scientists and other experts to answer one intelligent question.
I'm Joanna Bale from the IQ team.
We work with academics to bring you their latest research and ideas and talk to people affected by the issues we explore.
In this episode, I ask, are we on the verge of a weight loss revolution?
You just met Helen.
She spent nearly two years on a weight loss drug as MPIC.
It's one of the new generation of anti-obesity drugs.
These drugs have become known through their transformative and sometimes controversial effects on the appearance of celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey,
Elon Musk and Sharon Osborne.
And they're widely available online from private providers.
Now the NHS is beginning to roll them out to try to tackle one of the biggest challenges it's facing.
After smoking, obesity is the second biggest cause of cancer.
It also increases the risk of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, arthritis and stroke.
With nearly two thirds of adults either overweight or obese,
the government estimates